Tags: research

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Getting to the roots of climate solutions

As responses to climate change move toward adaptive solutions, plant genetics research faculty at the University of Georgia are seeking plant-based solutions. Some of these colleagues – from across campus, within and beyond the Franklin College – conduct studies at the cellular level, while others investigate plants as whole organisms. Still others are exploring how epigenetics shape entire ecosystems. And while a number of UGA geneticists…

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Q & A with horn professor James Naigus

Assistant professor of horn in the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music, James Naigus received the 2024 Michael F. Adams Early Career Scholar Award at the UGA Research Awards. Naigus recently sat down with our colleagues in UGA Research Communications and discussed his career as a performer and composer, his love for John Williams scores, and having the New York Philharmonic perform one of his pieces: What drew you to the horn? Because I’m a glutton…

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Regenerative Bioscience Center harnesses the body’s natural healing ability

What began in 2004 as a relatively small group of researchers has since grown to include more than 40 members spanning seven colleges, including the College of Engineering, the College of Public Health, and the College of Pharmacy. Together, the scientists aim to tackle medical challenges and develop cures and treatments for devastating diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and stroke. What is Regenerative Bioscience? You’re working in the…

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Discrimination may increase rates of depression and anxiety in Black youth

In a new study, UGA researchers analyzed survey responses and brain imaging data to assess how the part of the brain that detects threats and regulates emotions, known as the amygdala, reacts under conditions simulating the experience of racial discrimination. Results suggest some Black youth are internalizing racial discrimination, which may increase their rates of depression and anxiety: The analysis is part of a national study that followed…

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A long goodbye to the Southern accent

When we initially shared this new linguistics research late last year, it was tailor-made for media across the region, the nation and beyond. Since then UGA researchers Margaret Renwick and Jon Forrest have become a familiar presence in numerous reports of the demise of the Southern drawl. Georgia Magazine revisits the story in its new issue: Sometimes, linguistic studies start with a hunch. A good example is when a non-researcher notices that a…

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Parasuraman, Park recognized as faculty 'best mentors'

The Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities recognized two faculty members who enhance the learning experience of undergraduate researchers at the University of Georgia, at the spring 2024 CURO Symposium. This year’s recipients of the CURO Research Mentoring Award are Ramviyas Parasuraman, assistant professor in the School of Computing, and Hea Jin Park, associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Parasuraman is…

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Generative AI student competition

The 2024 Generative AI Competition for UGA students took place this spring and the winners were announced this week. In the competition, UGA students and student teams were invited to use AI to create something meaningful to enrich the UGA community/experience.  Eight projects were submitted, ranging in topic from threatened species to schedules. Earlier this month, the top three projects were determined by a panel of faculty judges:…

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Two Franklin College juniors named 2024 Goldwater Scholars

The Division of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, take a bow. University of Georgia juniors Elaine “Lainey” Gammon and Sara Logsdon are among 438 undergraduates across the nation to be recognized as Barry Goldwater Scholars in 2024, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of mathematics, engineering and natural sciences. Congratulations to these amazing students – and the Franklin faculty who are teaching and…

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2024 UGA Research Awards

Congratulations to the many Franklin College faculty members who were recognized this week at the 45th annual University of Georgia Research Awards. Our departments, programs and institutes were well-represented with a range of creative investigations across the full breadth of disciplines and professorial rank, including Early Career Scholar Award winners, all four from the Franklin College: Established by the UGA Research Foundation, these…

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Researchers unveil faster, more accurate COVID testing technique

With new cases, hospitalizations and mortality rates holding steady in many parts of the world, University of Georgia researchers have developed a faster detection technique for COVID-19.  In a new study published in Advanced Materials Interface, the UGA research team describes the rapid diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 detection and quantification directly from human nasopharyngeal swabs using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy…

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Gabara named inaugural Nancy Gillespie Brinning Professor in French

University of Georgia faculty member Rachel Gabara has been named the first Nancy Gillespie Brinning Professor in French. The endowed professorship, approved by UGA and the USG Board of Regents at their February meeting, becomes effective August 1, 2024. Gabara, Undergraduate Coordinator in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of Romance Languages, teaches literature and film in French, with a particular focus on nonfiction and…

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Franklin College Multidisciplinary Seed Projects Program funds six research projects

The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Multidisciplinary Seed Grant Program has funded two new tracks of collaborative research projects: Rapid Interdisciplinary Proposals (RIP) and Innovation in Interdisciplinary Instruction (I-Cubed). The seed grant program responds to the need for new paradigms that shape future research, life-long learning, public discourse, service, and dynamic entrepreneurship. $50,000 in seed funding from college…

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Small Satellite Lab puts UGA technology in space

Georgia Magazine highlights the next launch of MOCI: Multi-view On-board Computational Imager, the second satellite planned for orbit from the university’s Small Satellite Research Laboratory. MOCI (pronounced mo-chee) will not only capture images but check and process those images, extracting data and deleting images that aren’t needed: The satellite also will use feature detection and matching software to process them and send data back to the…

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Faculty Q & A: Gregory Robinson

Gregory Robinson, the Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, leads research efforts that have made enormous impact in chemistry and discoveries in sustainable energy, from exploring metalloaromaticity to the first example of a boron-boron double bond in a molecule. A chemistry department faculty member since 1995, Robinson has received many of the most prestigious awards for scientific ac hievement, including the Southern Chemist Award…

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Noted and Quoted, March 2024

Our March survey of media mentions and appearances by Franklin College faculty begins with the local coverage of professor and head of the department of history Stephen Mihm's journey to the South Pacific on a mission to search the ocean depths for soldiers who disappeared in a fierce battle of World War II. Mihm chronicled the search in the March issue of Smithsonian, in an article which also highlights the work of Franklin alumnus Dr. Patrick…

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Thompson to lead the Georgia Museum of Natural History

University of Georgia professor Victor Thompson has been appointed the Executive Director of the Georgia Museum of Natural History (GMNH), effective August 1, 2024. Thompson is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of anthropology and the current Director of the Laboratory of Archaeology.  The home of more than a dozen distinct collections, facilitating research for professionals,…

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UGA joins collaboration to study oscillations in coastal environments

The Simons Foundation has awarded $8.4 million to support collaborative research in coastal tidal marshes, via a cluster of seven linked project awards through its Life Sciences division. The project, “Ecosystem on the Edge: How Coastal Marsh Plants and Microbes Thrive in an Oscillating Environment,” is led by Zoe Cardon at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in collaboration with Jennifer Bowen (Northeastern University), Inke Forbrich (…

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Climate change threatens archaeological heritage of coastal Georgia

A new study published February 28, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Matthew D. Howland of Wichita State University and Victor D. Thompson of the University of Georgia reports that thousands of historic and archaeological sites in Georgia are at risk from tropical storm surges, a number that will increase with climate change. Due to rising sea level and increasingly severe tropical storms, human-caused climate change poses a…

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Noted and Quoted, February 2024

From lost aviators of World War II to category-6 hurricanes and the vanishing Southern accent, scholarship and expetise of Franklin faculty was courted, quoted, featured and relied upon widely in media across the world.  A few examples, plus some well-publicized profiles and awards, from the month of February: Jordan drone strike has many waiting and wondering on government response – Kevin Jones, associate professor of history, quoted and…

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Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants

Devoted to advancing interdisciplinary research across multiple application areas, ten university-wide projects have been awarded Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants as part of the 2023 cohort. The Franklin College congratulates  faculty involved in the the program's two tracks: For the first time, this year’s program has two tracks: New Frontiers and Cluster Engagement. The New Frontiers track is intended to support early-stage…

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Franklin triple-major seeks to serve her community through interdisciplinary approaches

Some may say that Rayna Carter has a lot on her plate for a second-year student, but it’s all about service for her. She wants to make her time at college count by using her time and skills to help as many people as possible.  “I've always been passionate, not just about leadership but about service,” she said. “That's really where my drive comes from: that desire to help people however I can.” Carter is triple-majoring in biology,…

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Geographers track environmental changes in the Andes

Geography faculty members have written and published extensively on the mountain ecology of the Ecuadorian Andes. Our colleagues in the Office of Research share a slideshow from their work investigating changes in freshwater availability and agricultural sustainability due to climate change, with important cultural and economic implications for the region: In September 2023, researchers from the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and…

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New study describes ways nonconformity can define individuals

While Americans often celebrate individuality in general, a new study from psychology shows that Americans tend to think more positively about mavericks than contrarians. According to the recent University of Georgia study, not all nonconformists are the same. Although on the surface, several “stand out” individuals may look the same, they are likely different from one another in several important ways. Across multiple studies, researchers…

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New study describes relationship between weather, chronic pain

The perception of weather-related increases in chronic pain leads many people to plan their activities around forecasts and influences the desire for pain-based weather forecasts, according to a new research study from UGA geography. In a survey, about 70% of respondents said they would alter their behavior based on weather-based pain forecasts: “We’re finding more consistent relationships between weather patterns and pain, so it seems more…

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Active learning intervention challenges race-based medicine

Despite ongoing efforts in the corporate world and academia to untangle and correct inaccurate notions about race and biology, strong currents of belief and practice continue to challenge what can appear to be a broader awareness. For example, although race has no biological basis, medical school training curricula tend to misrepresent race and reinforce biologically-essential components of race as explanations for disease. As the social…
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